Joan Baez still possesses the unwavering ability to make any song her own, even when she didn’t write the lyrics. It comes from her voice, an unmistakable soaring soprano with nightingale soul that took her to the stage of the Newport Folk Festival at the tender age of 18 and still carries a music career that’s now in its sixth decade. She’s best known as an icon of the ’60s folk movement, the songbird alongside Bob Dylan who often brought gentle nuance to his songs like “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue.”

Baez also championed others through the years. Her acclaimed “Diamonds and Rust” was surrounded by versions of songs written by Dylan, Jackson Browne, and John Prine on the 1975 album of the same name. It continued into the early ’90s when she brought a then-emerging Indigo Girls (who will join Baez at the nTelos Wireless Pavilion on Tuesday, June 11) on tour to expose the young songwriters to her audience. More recently, Baez made her latest album, 2008’s Day After Tomorrow, in Nashville with production help from Steve Earle. It featured Baez singing three Earle songs, as well as tunes by Tom Waits and Patty Griffin.

Beyond the music, Baez has remained a stalwart social activist, lending her voice to everything from Dr. Martin Luther King’s March on Washington in 1963 to a more recent street concert for Occupy Wall Street protestors. Ahead of her appearance in Charlottesville, Baez took C-VILLE’s questions by phone.

C-VILLE Weekly: What did you admire about the Indigo Girls’ sound?

Joan Baez: “They triggered a 10-year period where I had young songwriters as opening acts. I immediately noticed they had a wonderful spirit and great stage presence. Something you first hear either grabs you or it doesn’t. We’ll definitely be doing songs together on this upcoming tour.”

What elements do you look for in a song to make you want to sing it?

“I think the songs look for me. There’s no real design to it. It doesn’t have to be political or a ballad. It can be anything that rings a bell inside me. Often that has to do with social issues, but more often it just means it’s a beautiful song.”

What can fans expect out of a typical set these days?

“I cover the gamut. It’s been over 50 years, so people have entered my singing career at different times. To some people ‘Diamonds and Rust’ is an old song and others are just discovering it. I try to construct a concert that has everything. The trick is to keep it fresh. It almost doesn’t matter what I sing, as long as it’s fresh to the public and me. I like to rearrange songs that I’ve done forever. I get help from Dirk Powell, an amazing musician who plays seven instruments. It’s a way to keep these old songs alive.”

It’s been almost five years since your last album. Do you have plans to record another?

“I don’t right now, but that doesn’t mean it won’t happen. I would still do it if the right songs show up and the mood strikes. Right now I spend most of my time painting, and that’s all I really want to do. I have to realign my brain to get back into concert mode, but that should only take about a week.”

If you look at the current line-up of the upcoming Newport Folk Festival, it’s apparent that folk music is thriving. What’s your take on the current scene?

“Newport has found a way to keep itself vital. It had a lull for a while, but I think it’s been helped by young bands using a variety of different approaches. The last time I was there they wanted us to end with ‘This Land is Your Land.’ There was a wonderful young Cajun band on stage, and I said, ‘Just let them play one of their songs.’ They did, and we all danced. It felt fresh and out of the box. That’s what it’s all about.”

You’ve been a political activist throughout your entire career. Do you have a current cause?

“The backdrop to all of our lives has been changed so radically by global warming, which many people are still in denial about. I don’t see how it’s possible that my granddaughter will have a life, and that’s terrifying to me. I think along the lines of little victories and big defeats. The battle is against greed, but the key is to stay compassionate and caring. I believe that makes a total difference even if we’re not able to stop what’s coming.”

Do you have a favorite song to sing?

“Songs go through my head at different times of the day, so I would say I have different favorites all the time. Believe it or not, I just stumbled upon Whitney Houston’s ‘I Will Always Love You.’ That’s a song I would have been able to sing years ago. I was surprised I found myself listening to it, but it really is magnificent. The production and singing is beautifully done.”

First Aid Kit Ruins (Sony) Stockholm’s Klara and Johanna Söderberg have lived a charmed life. In 2007, Swedish state radio turned one of their demos into a summer hit. In 2008, their video of Fleet Foxes’ “Tiger Mountain Peasant Song” went viral, and their 2010 debut won rave reviews—all while

Chloe Edmonstone and Meredith Watson bring liveliness and experience to the mixture of bluegrass and traditional music that is Locust Honey. The American duo adds a vintage quality to its original songs, as well as on classic, prewar arrangements with a rotation of fiddles, open-back banjo,

Touted as one of the funniest plays ever written, Noises Off follows a troupe of actors that is performing a complete flop called Nothing’s On. Viewers get backstage passes to the ridiculous antics and offstage intrigue of the players, from rehearsal to the last performance, and the cast and

When writer and Charlottesville resident Patricia Asuncion took to the streets of Washington, D.C., during the 2017 Women’s March, her protest felt eerily familiar. “When I was first divorced in the 1970s, I had no credit. I had no bank accounts. I had nothing in my name. I didn’t even have the

A tale of science and psychology, A Wrinkle in Time imagines a scenario in which the universe wants those living within it to feel connected to themselves and everyone around them, and that the demons of depression and self-doubt are due to a great cosmic evil. Fifty years after it was first

On Charlie Shea’s first day of middle school two years ago, she received some words of wisdom from her father, Danny Shea. “My dad told me, ‘It’s going to suck. I’m just going to brief you,’” Shea remembers. In the past two years, she says she experienced “enough bad days to go around,” as well

A stage representative of a beautifully cared for home lights up, as does the face of the youngest version of Alison Bechdel, played by Violet Craighead-Way, as she begins to sing. I had only heard about Fun Home. I had never seen it (or listened to the music). I walked into Live Arts’

Dramatic mountainous backdrops compete with daring cinematography during the Banff Mountain Film Festival, where the audience has a bird’s-eye view of outdoor sports pros at their most extreme. The festival offers more than 30 short films that connect with personal stories like that of American

Being cautious has never been in Lucy Dacus’ playbook. Comfortable with big questions and lyrically confident, Dacus is still riding a wave of accolades from her debut, No Burden, an album that pegged her as someone to watch. Of her latest release, Historian, C-VILLE’s Nick Rubin says Dacus

Fun Home is a musical adapted from the autobiographical memoir of graphic artist Alison Bechdel, who chronicles her life from childhood to the present. When Bechdel’s father dies, she starts an introspective adventure, trying to make sense of their complicated and sometimes strained

It began at a Live Arts callback a few years ago. That’s where Lynn Thorne, a native Virginian who had just moved to Afton, met Jennifer. “We kind of became instant friends, and she shared with me pretty early on that her husband was transgender,” Thorne says. At the time, Thorne admits, she

Vocalist Veronica Swift has performed at Jazz at Lincoln Center several times. She’s got a regular gig at New York’s legendary Birdland, and she tours with trumpeter Chris Botti. She’s also shared the stage with Michael Feinstein, Esperanza Spalding and Paquito D’Rivera. But the 23-year-old

In Red Sparrow, a fallen Russian ballerina (Jennifer Lawrence) is given an impossible choice—to sacrifice her free will and dignity for her country by becoming a “sparrow” trained in the art of exploiting the sexual vulnerabilities of her targets, or lose the apartment and medical coverage

Jessica Lea Mayfield is done apologizing. The Nashville-based artist made her solo debut in 2008 with the album With Blasphemy So Heartfelt, produced by The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach. Known for towing the line between straight-ahead roots (she grew up playing in a bluegrass band with her family)

The Wind and The Wave has been quietly and unassumingly sweeping the alt-indie rock music scene since its debut album dropped in 2014. Made up of singer-songwriters Dwight Baker and Patty Lynn, who began making music just to see what would happen, The Wind and The Wave ended up with a serious

Canadian chamber-folk group Beyond the Pale formed in 2001, employing expert musicianship and dynamic song-crafting to create a sound that takes from jazz, reggae and classical music, while being heavily accented by Balkan and Romanian tradition. The group crosses musical borderlines on

In The Parking Lot Movie, the role of attendant goes beyond transactional and becomes a rite of passage. From their seat in the payment booth at The Corner Parking Lot on UVA Grounds, grads and undergrads spend their shifts intellectualizing and lamenting societal ills, from capitalism, anger

After years spent living abroad and around the U.S., Annie Temmink thought something was missing from her native Charlottesville. “I miss really great dancing and really wild visual clothing and adornment,” she says. “They’re rich opportunities for people to have moments of unbridled, creative

Game Night is a funny, exciting thriller-comedy with fun performances and a story that keeps you guessing. Who in the world saw this coming? Certainly not whoever edited the trailer, which sold it as another underwritten yarn with an on-the-nose title about insufferable schmucks who get in over